Artist Hannah Leadbetter holds first solo exhibition at 40

Every fortnight in this column, I sit down with an artist from across Torbay and ask them how they got here. This week, I'm answering some of the questions people ask me most. It feels a bit strange, but here goes.

What I've learnt from this column is that very few artists follow a straight line. Many come back to art after careers, children and setbacks, and Torbay is full of people who chose to keep going. I'm one of them. I'm self taught, I came to it late, and this November, at aged 40, I'm holding my first solo exhibition. If you've ever put your sketchbook in a drawer, this one's for you.

1. Have you always been an artist?

"My siblings and I spent our childhood drawing, painting and potato printing, my parents encouraged us to be creative. We'd set up little exhibitions and enter our own art competitions in the dining room, on the front porch, and in a makeshift tent under the washing line. I used to make Fimo models, and I'd turn them into little films. I'd take a photo, move the pieces a tiny bit, take another, and then put it all together into a short movie. I wish I still had them. I was as a shy girl at school and the only place I felt properly confident was when I was being creative. I loved learning about M.C. Escher and the Bauhaus, and I was proud of my self-portraits and the watercolours I painted.

Then came the exam year. I was predicted an A*, and two weeks before the exam my coursework folder was stolen from the art room. My teacher handed in what she could remember, and I got a B. I was crushed. A careers adviser suggested graphic design, but I chose media studies. I loved it. I learned to work in the darkroom, wrote storyboards and played with cinematography. Then, at sixteen, a guide on a Sky Studios tour told us that media was one of the toughest industries and that only the passionate make it. I decided I wasn't passionate enough, and I left college. For a long time after that, I didn't pick up a pencil seriously. The sketchbook never really left me, though."

2. What did you do before art?

"My first job was in marketing at a high profile law firm in Oxford. I was writing a monthly magazine, press releases and newspaper columns, and helping to organise events. The firm sponsored Oxford Arts Week and the Oxford Literary Festival, so I helped run them and met Baroness P.D. James and Philip Pullman, which still makes me smile. My marketing manager caught me doodling on the phone one day, looked at my drawings and told me I couldn't stop doing it. She bought me a calligraphy set and art materials. Doodling has always been how I take notes, and it was the first time someone told me it mattered.

After the law firm, I moved into alumni relations at Oxford University, running around thirty-eight events a year, from garden galas to silver service dinners and black tie evenings. Then, in my mid twenties, I trained to work at sea as a yacht stewardess, serving silver service in the Mediterranean. I kept a sketchbook on deck and was always drawing in the crew mess. When I came home to the UK, I took on The Montana, a guest house in Torquay that needed a lot of work. I loved designing the interior, the website and its brand. It taught me how to turn a business around and gave me a love for business."

3. How did you get back into art?

"Honestly, it was lockdown that did it. I started drawing again with my son, and I'd sketch my baby daughter asleep in her cot. I posted a few drawings online without thinking much of it, and people started asking for pet portraits. Before I knew it, I had a list of commissions. It was like a bell I could no longer ignore, I had to keep creating.

I worked in pencil at first, but I never liked the shine of graphite or how hard it was to get real depth into the darks. So, I tried charcoal and loved it. It's forgiving, and you can be messy and precise with it at the same time, which suits me. After selling The Montana, I worked at Triton Galleries in Torquay, so I was learning how art is presented and sold. It was then when I met Kevin Cowell, a photographer who started photographing and framing my work."

4. What's the difference between Print2Wall and Sienna Editions?

"Kevin is a photographer and has been based on Belgrave Road in Torquay since 2004. When we met, we both had a dream of making a gallery and a framing business real. We planned it all with sketchbooks. I now run Print2Wall, a fine art printing and framing studio, where artists come for photography, printing and bespoke framing. Kevin runs the gallery across the road at 90 Belgrave Road, which re launched as Sienna Editions in May, and I help him out there too. They're separate businesses, but we work closely together, so artists can get their work printed, framed and shown on the same street."

5. How do you fit it all in?

"I try to get one per cent better every day, and that's as true of my art as it is of the businesses. Running Print2Wall and helping in the gallery alongside my own work means there's always something to do, and some days that just means answering emails and getting the paperwork done. Then there are the other days, when I've got two children at home and I'm reminded what really matters. I love seeing them draw. Our house is full of craft, paper, paints and bits of card everywhere, and we draw together. Watching them make something from nothing reminds me why I started in the first place."

6. What is Still Wild about, and why the tattooed animals?

"Turning 40 made me look back, and I realised there's been a sketchbook in every chapter of my life. Still Wild brings every animal and piece I've poured myself into together for the first time, on the walls of Sienna Gallery.

My tattooed animals came from a retreat where I spent time in nature and thought hard about what I wanted to say through my work. I began to notice shapes everywhere, in the grain of wood, in skin and in the natural world, and I felt a sense of awe I hadn't felt in a long time. That became a turning point, and the animals with their body art grew out of it. It's a celebration of the work and of the chaos that got me here. I've still got a wild side, and I'm not going to quash it just because I'm turning 40. Still Wild runs until 22 November at Sienna Gallery, Belgrave Road, Torquay. You can find out more at www.siennaeditions.co.uk."

7. What advice would you give to artists starting out?

"My advice to any artist starting out is to keep making, even when it feels like nobody is watching. Try not to measure your work against what you see online, because most of what you scroll past is a highlight reel. Post honestly about your process, the messy bits included, and let people see the person behind the work. Get your pieces photographed and framed properly, because people respond to how work looks before they read a word about it. And if you're finding it hard, talk to other artists. The art community in Devon is generous, and you'll learn more from a cup of tea with another painter than from any algorithm. We also run a WhatsApp group for artists sharing opportunities, so there's always someone out there looking out for you."

8. What's next for you?

"Still Wild is the big one for me this year. Alongside that, I'm helping Kevin build the Sienna Gallery roster and look at new ways to show artists' work. My charcoal practice keeps going too. Elegance was selected for the RSMA Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries this year, which was a real honour. I'll keep writing about local creatives for the Torbay Weekly column which makes me feel so happy when I hear their stories too!."

I'm lucky to spend my days around artists, and everyone I've interviewed for this column has taught me something. If you're in Torquay this November, come and say hello at Still Wild at Sienna Gallery. You can also see more of my charcoal work at www.hannahleadbetter.com. And if you've got a sketchbook tucked away somewhere, get it out and give it a go!

At Print2Wall, we offer museum-quality fine art printing and bespoke framing services to help artists and photographers bring their vision to life. Visit us at www.print2wall.co.uk or drop me a line at [email protected].